Letters to the Editor

Letter: Don’t close schools

The current decision-making process around the closing of neighborhood schools is an example of how policy decisions can perpetuate structural problems in our society.

Five of the six schools being considered for closure are Title 1 schools, meaning lower-income and predominantly minority students. Wealthier communities are not being asked to sacrifice their children’s stability, friendships, teacher-student relationships and safety getting to and from school; it is communities with children who generally need that stability even more than others, whose parents don’t have the same clout.

This is how, over time, poverty and dysfunction get handed down from generation to generation. Those who already have keep theirs and demand more while those who struggle are expected to get by with less and are blamed for not getting ahead. I live in Nunaka Valley, and closing our school would change the character of the whole community, even for those of us without children in school.

I ask the school board to please reconsider the closing of our neighborhood schools. It is time to reinstate a school tax so that we can give all our students the best educational experience we can.

— Kate McClellan

Anchorage

Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.

ADVERTISEMENT